Fear porn ads on TV and radio are still a thing. States have brought back indoor mask “recommendations” (but not mandates). My parents are still nuts about the entire thing. So much so that my father obsessed over the state’s “death count”, and uses it to slam me for “not caring enough”…
My grandmother has had, like, four booster shots (because fear). My cousins rarely ever go out, and almost never without a mask…
But it’s not just my family. Someone told me today that he is no longer doing his job for the year, and all his colleagues have taken “an extended break until next year”, because “Covid means we are focusing on only essential services, not anything else”. And this is in the healthcare sector…
It’s insane. It’s been nearly three years. Less than 500 people have died, here. And yet, still this continues…
“Hospitalizations!” “Daily infection numbers!” “One more person died!”
I honestly don’t see them giving this up, or masks and boosters going away, probably like ever, here…
Which is just sad, frankly.
I assume other parts of the world have moved on, largely?
Certainly not Asia, notably, or fucking New Zealand of course, but I would hope that other parts of the world have, at the very least…
I live in the midwest and even the few people here who ever gave a shit about Covid have stopped. Yet despite this, every time you walk around a grocery store there's an ad every 2-3 minutes for "Get your updated COVID-19 booster shots at the pharmacy!" The last time I saw anyone wearing a mask it was in the Emergency Room line back in August, when some old lady came in to "get covid tested." She was wearing the mask in her car alone when she pulled up. Plainly neurotic. I can't imagine whole cities half full of those people - they get roundly mocked here.
Wow, the contrasts here, even within the US, are insane, then…
That sounds like the exact opposite of what others said for West Coast US…
Friggin’ weird times.
Enjoy that, then. It hasn’t been like that here for at least two years, sadly. Perhaps longer, by now… 😑